Team Divergent Free Will
by niallstardis
Summary: Castiel Novak is the perfect Abnegation. Always giving food to the factionless, giving up seats without a second thought. Then why does he feel like he doesn't belong? Castiel realizes that one choice can change your life. Forever.
1. Chapter 1

People said I was Abnegation to the core. I knew I was. Gabriel and Anna knew. So why did I feel like I didn't belong here? I have no idea.

"So, it's the big day, huh Cas?" Gabriel asked with a smile. I nod. We'd been through our aptitude tests, and today was the choosing ceremony.

"What are ya gonna choose? Seem like a good Abnegation already." I shrug as a response. "I'm not really sure, Gabriel. I honestly don't know."

"I know what I'm going to choose! Amity! This place is too…strict." The voice belongs to our sister Anna. She's never been a true Abnegation, not really. You can tell she's Amity at heart when you get to know her. She is very kind and peaceful. She's a great sister.

"Okay, you three, let's go," our dad says. We do not have a mother, she died when I was three. We go outside and get on the bus that will take us to the choosing ceremony. I give up my seat to and old Candor women who I can tell has trouble standing up. I grab onto the rail like many other Abnegation as the bus leads us to our futures.

-Dean's POV-

I run along the tracks with my brother Sam a pack of other Dauntless. Today is choosing day for Sam, and he seems like his heart is set on Dauntless. I grab the handle and swing myself inside the car, Sam repeating the process. I wear a black t shirt and black jeans with rips in the knees. Sam wears a black sweatshirt and black jeans.

"Sam, I just want you to know that whatever you choose, I'm totally fine with it. I just want you to be happy."

"Relax, Dean!" Sam says with an eye roll. "I'm picking Dauntless! I _want _to!"

"Alright, alright!" I say, putting my hands up in surrender. He laughs and I smile. We sit in silence by the door, watching the city roll by.

"I want to pick Dauntless because it's the only place I fit in. I don't wanna go to Erudite because…too much research. I mean, I'm fine with short term studying and stuff but…no way. Candor and Abnegation are way out, Amity is too peaceful. I like Dauntless. Fun, capture the flag, weapons, it's the only place where I belong," said Sam. Dean looked at his little brother and nodded.

When the train reaches the place where the choosing ceremony is held, we all start jumping off. I stand up and jump along with Dean, and when my feet hit the ground I keep running with the rest. Man I love being in Dauntless.

We go inside and stand in order in a big room. The man at the front stands by the bowls which stand for the five factions. Water is in the Erudite bowl, stones for Abnegation, soil for Amity, coal for Dauntless, and glass for Candor. After his speech, as always, he says the dreaded words "faction before blood." We repeat it, and he starts calling up sixteen year olds to choose. I've always hated the phrase "faction before blood." I'd choose my family over my faction anytime.

~Castiel's POV~

"Gabriel Novak," The man called. Gabriel flashed me a smile and walked up to the table. He took the knife and cut his palm, and then held it over the table, looking at all of the bowls. Finally, he thrust his palm over the Dauntless coals and squeezed a drop of blood into them.

"Dauntless!" the man yelled, and the group in black clothes went into a round of cheers. Gabriel smiled at me again and then walked over to his new faction. Gabriel, Dauntless? I never thought of him as that.

"Castiel Novak!"

I jerk my head up at the table, hearing my name. I walk over and accept the knife, cutting my palm. I hold my hand over the Abnegation bowl, but don't let my blood drop yet. Do I really want to stay here? I analyze the bowls, eliminating the ones I definitely don't belong to. Then, without a second thought, I thrust my palm over the sizzling coals.

"Dauntless!"


	2. Chapter 2

Castiel's POV

I nervously walk over to the place where the Dauntless are gathered. I'm greeted with smiles and claps. Someone hands me a Band-Aid for the cut on my palm. I look around trying to find Gabriel, but it's hard in all the commotion and I can't find him in this crowd.

When the ceremony is over, the Dauntless start running out. We run up flights and flights of stairs, and I feel like my legs are going to fall off. But finally we reach the top of the stairs and run out, through the streets and keep running. Then I see our destination. Of course. My first task is to jump onto the train.

The train comes into view, and as it starts rolling by, one by one, Dauntless start jumping on. I have no idea how I'm going to do this. Somewhere I see Gabriel jumping into a car ahead. Now the train is coming to an end. Finally working up the nerve, I jump. I grab hold of the handle and hold on for dear life.

"Need help?"

I look up to see a boy with broad shoulders, green eyes, short sandy hair, and a black t-shirt and jeans. He holds out his hand and I grab it, and he pulls me inside the safety of the train car. I sit against the wall, trying to catch my breath.

"Thank you," I say to the boy.

"Sure thing," he says with a smile. "I'm Dean Winchester."

"Castiel Novak."

"So, what's a Stiff doing, transferring to Dauntless?" he asks.

"Well, to be honest, I'm not exactly sure why I transferred. I guess a part of it was my brother Gabriel coming here as well."

"So, no faction before blood for you, then?"

"Well, it wasn't just Gabriel. I honestly don't know why I chose this faction, but I have a good feeling about it," I reply.

"Well, welcome to the crew. Of course, you'll have to pass initiation, but I've got a good feeling about you. Any Stiff with the guts to jump on a train, and have the skill to do so, is okay in my book."

I give him a small smile, and he stands up to talk to some others. I watch as the city rolls by, thinking about my choice and why I'm here.

Dean claps his hands loudly and says "Alright, get ready to jump."

"What?!" a Candor transfer exclaims. "Are you trying to kill us?"

"You signed up for Dauntless," Dean says with a shrug. She lets out an exasperated sigh and walks towards the door. The building comes into view, and I see others who already jumped. She walks backwards, then runs and jumps. Others do the same, and then it's just me and Dean left.

"We'd better be quick. On the count of three. One, two, three!"

We jump out of the car, sailing in the air for a few seconds, before I hit the roof hard and land on my side. Dean miraculously lands on his feet, and helps me up off the ground.

"Cas!"

I hear my name being called from my left. I see a smiling Gabriel come running up to me.

"I see you survived," he says with a grin. Suddenly, someone shrieks. We come running over to see her looking at a girl sprawled on the ground below, her limbs bending in all the wrong ways, lying in a pool of her own blood. She didn't make the jump. The girl who shrieked starts crying, and another girl puts her arm around her and gently leads her away from the terrible sight. I stare for another moment before averting my eyes. I walk away from the ledge, trying to forget the terrible scene.

"Okay, initiates!" someone yells. I look up to see a boy with two piercings above his right eyebrow, and tattoos of lines on his neck.

"I'm Eric! I'm one of your Dauntless leaders! You're first task, is to stand on this ledge and jump."

"Jump? Where to?" an Erudite yells.

"I guess you'll find out!" Eric smirks. "Now, who wants to be the first to jump? I'm talking transfers, okay?"

"I will."

This comes from a blonde Abnegation. I surprisingly haven't seen her around, and I don't know her name. She steps up to the ledge.

"Ooh, a Stiff!" an Erudite sneers. She takes off her dress, revealing a shirt and pants underneath, and throws it at him with a glare. Then she looks down, and jumps.

It's been only five initiates before Gabriel is stepping up to the ledge.

"Ooh, another Stiff! You scared?"

"You know," says Gabriel. "There's a reason for the Choosing Ceremony." And with that, he jumps. Eric glares down after him, and then more people come up to jump. It's been eight jumpers now, and I decide I should go. I nervously step up onto the ledge, and look down. I see a hole in the ground below, obviously my destination. I don't know what's down there, but obviously it won't kill me.

I take a deep breath and jump.

The wind throws my hair back, and it's hard to breathe. I spread out my arms to try and slow down, but I don't feel much of a difference. But I do feel one thing, something I haven't felt much before. Thrill.

I enter the hole, and land on a sort of net. Some Dauntless down there help me out, and I thank them.

"What's your name? Think a bit, because once you choose your name, that's what everyone calls you for the rest of your Dauntless days."

"My name is Cas. Cas Novak."


	3. Chapter 3

Gabriel works his way through the crowd and over to me. The Dauntless born have started jumping, so the crowd has started cheering their friends on.

"So, how did it feel? The jump? I thought it was great," he says with his big signature grin on his face.

"For once in my life, Gabe, I felt thrill."

He says "I felt freedom. Oh, and wind. Lots and lots of wind." I smile at his joke and he says "So, what's your Dauntless name?"

"Cas. I just want people to call me Cas. How about you?"

"Gabriel. Were you expecting something like Gabe?"

"Kind of," I admit. He smiles.

"Nah, I like being called by my full name. It feels right."

_-Later-_

We make our way to the dining area, and I'm now wearing a black t-shirt, black jeans, and black sneakers. Gabriel is wearing a black sweatshirt and black jeans as well. We sit down at the tables and start piling our plates with food. I hear someone sit down across from me. I look up to see Dean, the boy who helped me onto the train earlier. A younger boy walks up after him and sits down next to him.

"Hey, Castiel!" he says with a grin.

"Um, it's…Cas now," I say hesitantly.  
"Cas…I like that. Well, Cas, this is my brother Sammy," he says, gesturing to the younger boy.

"Dean! It's Sam! Don't call me Sammy!"

"You know you're never going to stop me."

He rolls his eyes and grabs a sausage from a serving plate in the middle of the table.

"So, who's this?" Dean asks, nodding at Gabriel.

"This is Gabriel, my brother."

"Hey!" he says with his little finger wave. Dean nods in greeting, giving him a smile as well.

"Um, Dean here helped pull me into the train. That's how I know him," I explain to Gabriel. He nods at Dean and then proceeds to filling his plate with food. We make small talk for the rest of dinner. When it's over, everyone files out in quite possibly the most unorderly fashion possible. Dean and Sam catch up to Gabriel and me.

Dean says "So, what should we do now?"

"I know!" Sam pipes up. "We should get tattoos!"

_Tattoos?_

"Hey, you're right, Sam! C'mon, it's this way," Dean says, pulling me down a hallway while Gabriel follows next to Sam. "I only have two tattoos, and Sam has none," Dean says.

We enter the tattoo section, which is dimly lit in orange light. There are chairs all around, and quite a few are occupied with transfers excited to get inked. I make my way over to a chair, and Gabriel finds one next to me. He tells his tattoo artist what tattoo he wants, but I don't catch what he says.

(Note: Sam gets tattoo of moose antlers on his back because a kid called Crowley says he looks like a moose and Gabe dares him to )

"So, what do you want?"

I look up and find a woman who can't be older than twenty staring down at me. She has light brown hair and piercing green eyes. Like everyone else, she wears all black.

"Um…" I think about the design I want inked on my skin forever. Then something pops into my head. I look up at her and tell her the design for my tattoo.

_Much Later_

"Okay, you're done!" she says, putting down her tools and walking away to wash her hands. I sit up and pull on my shirt. My back still stings from the needle tracing my skin. Gabriel sees that I'm done and walks over. He gives me a pointed look that seems to ask "So, what'd ya get?"

"You first," I answer. He puts out his right arm and rolls his short sleeve back a little, revealing a snake winding around the full length of his arm, shoulder to wrist. It has a green and grey design.

"What do ya think? I think it looks pretty awesome. Don't you?"

I nod in agreement, smiling at the snake. "It suits you, I think."

"Alright, let's see it then. What'd you get?"

I pull off my shirt and turn around, extending my arms in the process. There, on my back, from my shoulder blades to my elbows, is the design of angel wings.

**A/N: Sorry if it's a short chapter, but I had to update! Thanks so much for reading! Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

For a few moments, Gabriel doesn't say anything; he's just staring at my back where the inked lines form wings.

"Wow…" he murmurs. I look at him over my shoulder a bit, and his gape turns into a grin. "That's awesome, Cassie!"

"It's Cas now."

"Whatever you say, Cassie. What made you want to do angel wings anyway?" he asked curiously. I pull my shirt back on over my body and turn around to look at him.  
"I'm not quite sure. I think it has to do with how I felt when I was jumping. As if I was flying. Almost."

He looks like he's about to say something else, but he's cut off when Dean comes bounding up to us with Sam following close behind. He has an excited grin on his face, and I can tell he's anxious to see my tattoo.

"So, what did you get?" he asks eagerly.

"I'll show you, but first I want to see you're two tattoos," I say, causing him to emit an impatient groan.

"Alright, fine, fine." He pulls off his shirt, revealing a strange mark on his left bicep. It's a star with strange wavy lines coming out from all around it, almost like flames. He notices my confusion at the odd symbol and is quick to explain. "It's supposed to be an anti-possession mark. Our dad told us stories about ghosts and monsters, and demons. Obviously, they're not real, but he had a tattoo just like this, and so did our mom. So I got one too."

"What is it supposed to do?" I ask.

"Well, theoretically, if a demon tried to possess you, and you had this tattoo, it wouldn't be able to. But since that's all fictional, it's just a damn cool looking tattoo."

"Does Sam have one as well?" I ask, looking towards the younger boy. His face lights up and he pulls off his own shirt, revealing a tattoo identical to his brother's, and in the same place on his body as well.

"Just got it a few minutes ago," he says proudly. I smile and look back at Dean.

"What's your other tattoo?" I ask.

He turns so that I can see his arm. He rolls up the sleeve, fully revealing the inked design of a skull on his bicep. There are designs of fire surrounding the skull, and I wonder if they mean anything.

"Why the flames?"

"Um…" he looks down at the floor slightly, and I can tell I've rubbed salt on an old wound. Hopefully not much salt. "I just thought it, um, looked cool."

I can tell he's lying, covering up the real story, but I don't push him any further.

"Well, I'm waiting!" he says while pulling on his shirt. I notice Sam has done the same. I tilt my head slightly in confusion, not sure what he means. He laughs at my confusion and crosses his arms, a happy glint in his bright green eyes. "You're tattoo, Cas. Lemme see it."

"O-oh," I stammer, a pink blush creeping up my neck. I turn quickly and lift the shirt over my head, suddenly self-conscious of my body. It's fine around Gabriel, since he's my brother, after all. But with Dean, I suddenly for some reason feel the need to not look as pathetic. He has a well-built body and muscles. I'm much skinnier and my muscles aren't nearly as noticeable. I drop my shirt to the floor and lift my arms, as if I'm spreading feathery, white wings. I feel myself tense under his gaze, and I look over my shoulder slightly to see his reaction. He's just standing there, staring at my back. I can't tell if he's staring at my tattoo in awe, or staring at my back thinking negative thoughts.

We stand like that for a long time, and he doesn't say a word.

"Um, do you like it?" I ask timidly, and he seems startled.

"Hm? Oh, definitely," he replies with a grin. "It's really cool, Cas. I like it a lot."

I smile and pull my shirt back on, covering up most of the ink, but still leaving the tips of the wings visible. I spot Gabriel a few feet away, his sleeve once again rolled back up, showing his snake tattoo to Sam. Sam is tracing the design of the snake lightly, and Gabriel says something. Sam laughs and says something else, which makes Gabriel smile. I have a feeling they're going to be good friends.

Dean starts over towards them, and I follow along. They look up and stop their conversation when we approach them.

"Cas, I like your tattoo," Sam says with a smile. I smile at his compliment.

"Thank you," I answer.

"So, guys, what was it like in Abnegation?" Dean asks eagerly. Gabriel and I shared a glance before both answering with "Boring." Gabriel puts much more emphasis on the word.

"Details, please!" Dean laughs.

"Well, we always have to wear _grey_, which I kind of a drag," Gabriel whines.

"If there's an older person who needs a seat, if you don't give up your own, people will look at you like you're the most evil person in the world," I inform.

Dean whistles. " I do _not_ want to live there," he says pointedly. I nod with a slight smile.

"Yep, it's in the job description," Gabriel laughs. "You can't even talk _out of turn_." He makes air quotes with his fingers around "out of turn."

We exchange stories from our own factions until we have to go to bed. Sadly, Sam and Dean cannot sleep in the same room as us. The room we sleep in is only for transfers.

"Night, guys," Dean says with a wave as we part our ways.

"Good night, Dean."


End file.
